DRUG CZAR TALKS IN JOLIET

JOLIET -- The nation's "drug czar" was in town Monday, reporting on
efforts to pierce the drug trade, treat offenders and protect
children from the scourge of substance abuse.

John P. Walters, director of the White House Office of National Drug
Control Policy, addressed an audience at the Holiday Inn on South
Larkin Avenue that included Joliet-area leaders in law enforcement,
education, and drug prevention and treatment.

Walters, who has been President Bush's drug czar for 4 1/2 years,
spoke bluntly about the problem of the global drug trade -- and the
domestic demand that feeds it.

"The reason why there is violence at the Mexican border, and there
are gunslingers, is that they get U.S. dollars," he told the audience.

"We want to understand how these systems of businesses work, and
target them in an aggressive way," he said.

Walters said the United States is fighting drug cultivation in
Afghanistan and South America.
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His office reports that coca cultivation in Colombia, Bolivia and
Peru has declined by 22 percent since 2001 -- preventing the
production of more than 500 metric tons of cocaine.

U.S. Rep. Jerry Weller, R-Morris, discussed local enforcement
efforts. Weller, who was mediator of the forum, said he has secured
money for several initiatives in his district.

For instance, Elwood and Crete get help from the National Center for
Rural Law Enforcement Internet Project, which provides free Internet
and e-mail services to agencies in rural areas. Weller helped secure
$250,000 for the program.

Targeting users, too

But Walters said the drug problem goes beyond enforcement. The
problem of drug consumers -- as well as suppliers -- must be
addressed, he said.

"We know that we need to control supply and demand," Walters said.
"We know that we need to do that in a thoroughgoing way. Prevention is a key."

He said awareness campaigns have sent a powerful message, linking
drugs to terrorism, warning youths about peer pressure, and informing
teens about the severe health consequences of drug abuse -- fighting
peers' notions that drugs are recreational.

Walters stressed the importance of building anti-drug coalitions at
the local level.

"There are a lot of ways a community can go from being powerless to
saying, 'What can I do to get involved?'" he said.

Walters mentioned other anti-drug strategies, including drug testing,
screening in schools, and sending nonviolent offenders to drug courts.

National, local picture

The overall economic cost of drug abuse to American society increased
at a rate of 5.9 percent annually between 1992 and 2002, according to
information supplied by Weller. By 2002, the economic cost of drug
abuse was reported at $180.8 billion.

But Weller's office also reported progress in the fight against
drugs: The use of illicit drugs by students in eighth through 12th
grades has dropped 19 percent since 2001. And in 2003 and 2004, the
purity of heroin decreased by 22 percent, while the street price rose
30 percent.

In Will County, drug trends are continuing at the status quo, Sheriff
Paul Kaupas reported at the forum.

"Basically, it's still in the same cycle," he said. "Heroin stays in
cycles, rock cocaine stays the same. There is the thought that meth
is going to come into the county."

While methamphetamine has made inroads in southern Will County and
Grundy County, it hasn't moved in force into the immediate Joliet
area, Kaupas said. This is because rock cocaine is entrenched in the
market, he said.

In Joliet, police have formed a unit to fight narco-trafficking,
Deputy Chief Fred Hayes reported at the forum. The unit has executed
75 search warrants -- primarily coming across crack and powder
cocaine. Heroin is also present, Hayes said, noting the disturbing
occurrence of overdose deaths.

Hayes also mentioned two Joliet meth-lab cases in the past year. One
involved the explosion of a lab in a local hotel.

Walters compared the drug problem to a spreading, metastasizing disease.

"Every child who abuses is generally not secretive," he said. "They
bring this behavior to their friends. That's why it's so insidious."